


Love and War

by xxawalkinwonderlandxx



Series: Fairytales, Myths, and Legends [4]
Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Aphrodite!Clarke, Ares!Bellamy, Clarke is a literal goddess, Dionysus!Jasper, F/M, Greek Mythology AU, Hephaestus wasn't a good husband, Hephaestus!Finn, Modern retelling of Aphrodite and Ares, Persephone!Emori, rating for chapter 3 and 5 but mostly 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:33:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23514715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxawalkinwonderlandxx/pseuds/xxawalkinwonderlandxx
Summary: Clarke was given to Finn as a way to make him happy and so Zeus could get Hera back from the trap that he had placed her in. The marriage wasn't terrible. Clarke thought that she and Finn actually got along really well for the most part, but that's not how their story is told. Aphrodite was a good wife, but Hephaestus was the one who screwed it up.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Finn Collins/Clarke Griffin
Series: Fairytales, Myths, and Legends [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655845
Comments: 46
Kudos: 227





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So, I saw the two pictures shown below and couldn't get this story out of my head until I wrote it down. I'll be posting a chapter a day with the final chapter being posted on Friday :)
> 
> The art is by an Italian artist Fedini, and I've linked their Tumblr below so we can show them the love they deserve <3  
> The poems are by Nikita Gill from her book "Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters" :)
> 
> ALSO! I want to thank the two amazing people who read this story and gave me their feedback <3 Sara and Lydia, I couldn't have done this without you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My wonderful Betas you should follow :)
> 
> [byhisqueensside](https://twitter.com/byhisqueensside)
> 
> [Lydia](https://twitter.com/lspringer91)

Artist: [Fedini](https://fedini.tumblr.com/)

**Craving (A synonym for Aphrodite)**

Who can say craving without  
letting their tongue dance past  
the lust within the vowels.

A stirring, something primal,  
one of the few things we have  
left in common with animals.

Perhaps it makes sense then,  
the story of her birth sounds  
so vulgar. How the sea waves

that became her mother  
mixed with the still-bloodied  
parts that were once her father.

Danger. Everything about her  
spelled the kind of danger  
that could make order crumble.

Of course, they would try to crush  
what they couldn’t understand.  
Not when the hunger in her alone

could swallow up every God,  
every woman, every man,  
every person, the whole universe.

**The Birth of Ares**

What else could have come  
from a love that became so brutal  
even the skies pelted hailstones  
and hurricanes when they fought?

Confrontation. Combat. Combustion.  
Still the son of two of the mightiest Gods.  
But a child born of such rage  
will always smell of Sulphur and damage.

The God he becomes stands on  
warcries and bones and death  
in a battlefield. Who else could he be  
with the eternal screaming in his head?

~ Nikita Gill ~

* * *

The sounds of people milling around the bar surround her and Aphrodite twirls her straw around in her drink as she looks around at everyone. She notices a couple in the corner of the bar, huddled away in a booth with the dim yellow lights not doing much to bring them out of the shadows, and she smiles at them. They don’t notice her, but she knows that she will have done her duty when they get up to leave. Her eyes drift towards a couple of men at one of the pool tables, and she picks up her drink to take a sip of it as she watches them. All night, she’s watched them steal glances at each other without the other noticing, and she finds it adorable. As she continues to watch, they look at each other at the same time, and she notices a shift. Really, she should get out more.

The door to the bar opens, and she doesn’t need to look to see who it is. She can feel him. Since the first day she met him, the scent of metal and dirt, and sometimes blood, has become something akin to a personal aphrodisiac. She slides her eyes from the other people of the bar and towards the man walking through the door, as do most others. His black, curly hair is mused from the wind, and her fingertips ache to touch it, card through it as she pulls at the ends. The hair she’s felt so many times that she can never seem to get enough of. He twirls his keys around his finger, the metal clinking together as his eyes find hers. They always find her immediately. One side of his mouth turns up, and when she looks into his eyes, she can still see the flames that burn behind them.

She says nothing as he slides into the empty seat beside her, and she takes a moment to rake her eyes over his body now that he’s closer to her. His black pants are low enough to where she can see the band of his underwear, and the blue t-shirt he’s wearing under his leather jacket gives her a glimpse at the top of his chest. Not that she doesn’t know what it looks like already. He orders a drink, whiskey neat, and leans an elbow on the bar as he turns to look at her. And _god,_ she loves it.

“So,” he drawls, amusement in his eyes, “what is a goddess like you doing in a place like this?” The bartender snorts as he hands over the drink, but the two of them ignore him. “I’m Bellamy.”

Aphrodite sips on her drink and smiles at him through heavy-lidded eyes. “Bellamy.” When she says his name, there’s a spark in his eye. One that she’s always loved. “I’m Clarke.” He smiles at her, a bright, beautiful smile that makes her heart melt while setting her body on fire.

He was right. They are going to have fun with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was short, but I promise there will be more tomorrow! I'd love to hear what you think about this beginning down in the comments :)
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	2. The day they met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodite meets Ares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what, I lied. Here’s chapter 2! So the story will be finished by Thursday :)

The story of Aphrodite and Hephaestus is one everyone claims to know, and they do, but it’s the story that he wanted them to believe. There was no love between them, and even though Hephaestus worked himself to the bone to provide for her, Aphrodite never thanked him or loved him. How could she? She only loved appearances, as people love to say. Except, once upon a time, she did love him and thought that he loved her. She was more than what many believed, and fell in love with people’s minds, too. 

Aphrodite was given to Hephaestus as a way to appease him and have him free Hera from her confines. She did not appreciate being bartered, but even though his appearance was not considered godly, she came to love him all the same. They talked for hours their first nights together, and he was sweet. Gentle. And he seemed to adore her. Something she always craved. So, no, she did not despise him, or have any negative feelings towards him. At least, not in the beginning. 

She loved Hephaestus and would beg him not to leave her for so long, but he would always take her hand and tell her that he had to. It was his job, being God of the Forge. And so, she let him go. She always had to let him go, but not without the promise that she would keep their bed warm until his return. The Goddess of Love had her heart captured by the very man who was tossed from Mount Olympus when he was a baby, and she was happy with him. She was faithful _to_ him. Still, no one knew the truth, even then. 

One day, Aphrodite decided that she would visit her husband while he was working. When he saw her, she knew he would fuss over her and tell her that the forge was no place for her to be, but she wanted to see him. She needed to see him. She could see the embers and the ashes before anything, and even though the others would have been shocked to see what she was doing, she didn’t care. 

The heat felt like it would singe her hair, and the smoke caused tears to spring to her eyes whenever she walked through it, but none of that mattered when she was closer to her husband than she had been in months. When she finally found his work station, she was excited since she hoped to see him, but he wasn’t there. She looked around, wondering where he could have gone to take a break, and began to wander. 

Hephaestus never talked about what his place within the volcano was like, even though she asked him to tell her multiple times. He never wanted to. She walked down a hallway that led further into the mountain, and the more she walked, the less the heat bothered her. Of course, her husband would have to have a room here, or somewhere nearby, since he couldn’t be expected to work endlessly without any break.

Eventually, the hall ended at a door, and Aphrodite pulled her shoulders back and lifted her chin. She hoped that he would be happy to see her since he always told her that he never liked being away from her for so long. So, with that in mind, she reached out for the handle and turned it. The two of them were past the point of knocking before coming into a room. Something that took Hephaestus a while to stop doing. She opened the door slowly, and quietly, wondering if she could sneak up on him as part of her surprise, but there was noise already coming from the room.

Coldness gripped her heart as she forced herself to look around the wooden shield that was keeping her from seeing what was happening, but she knew those sounds. When she looked, Hephaestus was lying on his back and a woman with long brown hair was on top of him, holding herself up with her hands pressed against his chest while his grabbed at her ass. It was a position Aphrodite knew very well. 

She stared at the situation in front of her as she backed further into the hallway. It looked like they didn’t notice her, at least, the other woman didn’t. There was an image of Hephaestus in her mind as she moved to close the door, almost like he was smirking at her from under the brunette. 

“Finn!” The woman moaned, and Aphrodite felt a stab of pain at the sound. The names that the gods and goddess gave themselves was something to be kept private, within those they loved and trusted. So, then, everything was clear.

Aphrodite shut the door as quietly as she could and made her way back the way she came. Despite what she knew of the other gods, and her personal experiences before she was married, she should have known that this would happen. Afterall, Zeus was distracted by anything that walked. On her journey back home, she thought about what life would be like once Finn came back home. Could she act as though nothing happened? But what would be the result if she confronted him with it? Nothing. She also didn’t know if he actually did see her watching the two of them, or if it was just something her mind made up. She couldn’t divorce him, either. Those things just never happened. If they had, Hera would have divorced Zeus a long time ago.

There was no telling when Finn would come back, there never was, so in the days following her encounter, Aphrodite kept to herself. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep in their bed, choosing instead to sleep on the couch on their balcony since the weather was nice to do so. She didn’t visit the gardens as she usually would to bring in fresh flowers, but instead threw away the ones that Finn had gotten her. She’d rather not be reminded of him until he came home.

Weeks passed by with no sign of her husband, and Aphrodite found herself coming to terms with everything. She couldn’t continue to live as if everything was okay, but she also knew that there was nothing she could do about it. Cheating among the gods was considered normal, and there was nothing the women could do. Hera came to mind, and it only made Aphrodite’s mood worse. Had she been a fool to believe that her husband’s deformities would keep him from hurting her? Possibly. Afterall, did she not consider looks to be only part of it? Maybe her error was believing that if he thought he was lucky enough to have her, a goddess known for her beauty, then it would be enough to have him remain faithful. She felt silly.

  
~  
  


Aphrodite tilts her face up towards the sun as her fingers graze over the petals of the flowers in the garden. After spending so much time inside, she figured she should at least take a trip to her favorite spot. If anything, feeling the sun’s warmth and the water might take her mind off the everything that has been troubling her for the past month. She lets her shawl fall from around her shoulders, favoring the feeling of the sunlight instead, and looks around. Her flowers make her feel calm, nearly serene, as she takes in all of their smells. 

She walks through her garden and to a grove of trees just off their land, watching everything as she goes. At this point, time has ceased to be a thing for all of them, but sometimes she finds herself never wanting the daylight to end. Like today. The dirt grows softer the further she goes, and when she reaches the edge of the trees, she smiles at the sight in front of her. 

The hot spring spreads out before her, and the sound of the waterfall is enough to drown out her thoughts while also feeling like it’s taking all of the tension out of her body. It’s hidden well enough that she cannot see this place from her balcony, or hear the water, but the walk is well worth it. She walks towards the water, curling her toes in the sand every so often until she stands at the edge of the ground and looks down. The water has always been clear, and she stares down at the bottom of the pond. 

Aphrodite pulls up her dress as she sits down, and slips her feet into the water. She feels like she’s been wrapped in a warm blanket today, which is a stark contrast to how she’s been feeling. She knows that with time the pain she’s been feeling will disappear, it’s already begun to dwindle, and the thing that hurts the most now is the fact that she, the goddess of love, someone who has captured the hearts of so many, could not even keep her husband’s.

Sighing, she leans back onto the ground with her feet still moving through the water and looks up at the sky. It’s a beautiful day, and it makes her realize that she should get out more like she used to. Staying inside the house she’s shared with her husband for so long probably isn’t the best way to spend her time since she doesn’t even want to be around him, but she doesn’t have a choice in that matter. If she’s lucky, Finn will only come home for a few weeks at most and then he’ll be gone again and she’ll be able to do as she pleases.

The goddess closes her eyes, and lets the sun wash over her. What would she do with her days? There could be more of this, relaxing by the water. She hasn’t been visited by Persephone lately, so she could call her over for an afternoon. Once Finn is gone, of course. Then there’s the matter of her flowers...something breaks through Aphrodite’s thoughts and she looks off to the side in time to see a man emerge from the side of the woods. Well, a god to be more specific.

She watches as his eyes find hers, and then he begins to remove his armor. There’s blood splatter all over him, though she can’t see if any of it is his. When his breast plate is gone, Aphrodite lets her eyes roam over the exposed skin. After all, she can at least indulge herself a little now. His skin is darker than she originally thought. A tanned, golden-brown that she’s sure she would love to look at a lot more whenever she’s given the opportunity. He looks at her again and smirks as he takes off the rest of his armor, and Aphrodite lets her eyes rake over the rest of his body, pausing slightly when she looks at what is between his legs. 

Ares walks into the water, and Aphrodite props herself up on her elbows to watch him. The blood and dirt that’s on his skin begins to dissipate as he goes, but the spring doesn’t stay clouded for long. She watches as he walks towards the waterfall and stands under it, and silently wishes she could do the same, but she’s too short. He takes his time washing his hair, and the water turns his already black curls even darker as she watches. She hasn’t allowed herself to do something like this in a while, but now she realizes what she’s been missing out on.

She sits up completely and picks a flower to twirl it around in her fingers as she watches the God of War get to work at scrubbing his body to rid himself of the grime that hasn’t already washed off. She’s never interacted with him before, but she’s always seen him whenever they’re called to meetings. He always seemed like the kind of person who would rather fight than have a conversation. He dips his head under the water, and when he comes up, his eyes find her again. She knows they’re dark, but she’s never seen them up close to see just how dark.

“You’re angry.”

Aphrodite raises an eyebrow at him, still twirling the flower between her fingers. “What makes you say that?”

“I can feel it.” There’s a tilt to the side of his lips. “What could the Goddess of Love have experienced to make the rage in your heart so strong?”

“Do you assume that since that’s what I am, I can’t feel any other emotions?”

“I didn’t say that.” Ares moves towards her in the water slowly. “I asked what happened.” 

She watches his muscles as he moves, and she can feel something pulling at her. She may not consider looks to be everything, but they certainly are not bad to have. “What makes you think I want to talk about it?”

He comes to stop a couple of feet away from her, and Aphrodite can see the freckles that cover his skin. They’re all over his face, and they spread down to his neck and torso, but she can’t make any more out once she reaches the water at the bottom of his ribs. “If you prefer, you can yell about it.”

The choking feeling in her chest that she’s been experiencing on and off for weeks dissipates slightly, and she can feel the corners of her mouth turn up. “I would guess you’re very good at that.”

“Possibly.” He smiles at her a little, and when her eyes meet his, she notices that they’re a dark brown, but they look as if they’re on fire. He tilts his head to the side as he looks at her, and his eyebrows furrow together. “I can feel how unhappy you are.”

Aphrodite looks down at the flower she’s still holding and wonders what she should say. Everyone knows about Zeus’s escapades because he and Hera can be heard arguing whenever something happens, and Dionysus is the biggest gossiper out of all of them. But should she tell him the truth? Afterall, it’s not unusual for a married couple to experience something like this. It was bound to happen eventually.

“Hephaestus is having an affair,” she says, looking back up at him. Ares’s eyebrows rise towards his hairline. “I may not have wanted to marry him at first, but over time...I don’t know. I never thought this would happen.”

“You care for him.” Aphrodite presses her lips together and looks away from his eyes. Does she still care for him? She can’t have spent all of that time around him only to flip a switch and be done with her feelings for him. Can she? Ares reaches out, and his hand comes to rest at the back of her ankle. “What’s your name?”

Aphrodite looks up at him, her eyebrows furrowing together. “You know my name.”

“Yes, but I’m asking for _yours_.”

Understanding dawns on her as she looks at him, and she can feel her heart begin to beat a little faster. If she tells him, then there’s nothing she can do to take it back, but she wants him to know. She looks at him through her eyelashes, a small smile playing on her lips as she looks into his eyes. “I’m Clarke.”

“Clarke.” The way his voice sounds when he says her name is enough to cause goosebumps to rise on her skin. He squeezes her ankle a little, his thumb running across the side of it. “I’m Bellamy.”

Her smile widens. “It’s nice to meet you, Bellamy.” He smiles at her, and her breath catches in her chest. She’s never seen him smile before, and she wonders how many women have fallen in love with him because of it. They continue to look at each other, and Clarke feels the beginning of something she hasn’t felt in a very long time.

“Do you want to join me?” His hand leaves her ankle, and the place he was holding suddenly feels a lot colder in the water now. He swims back a little, his eyes never leaving hers. His hair is beginning to dry a little, and she can see the ends starting to curl but, this time, they’re not being weighed down.

“I can’t.” She looks up at the sky. “Apollo would have a field day.”

“Do you really care what he thinks?”

“It’s not what he’ll think, it’s what he’ll _say_ ,” Clarke corrects him. “He tells everything to Dionysus.”

Bellamy grins at her. “At least we could give them something to talk about.”

While the offer is tempting, Clarke isn’t sure she could do something so bold knowing that her husband would be returning soon. Despite everything, she doesn’t want to get revenge. That much. At least, that’s what she told herself she wasn’t going to do. Nothing good ever came from a situation like that but, with Ares swimming in front of her, she can’t think of anything else.

“Maybe another time.”

Bellamy raises his eyebrows, one side of his mouth turning up in a half-smile. “Does that mean there actually will be another time?”

Clarke lets her eyes take him in one last time before looking back at his face. “Possibly.” She looks over at where his armor is laying in the sand. “Where did you come from?”

“Just off the coast.”

“And what was their reasoning this time?”

“They wanted peace. I was happy to help.”

“Hmm.” Clarke hums as she kicks her feet out in the water. 

Bellamy swims back towards her, resting his hands against the rocks on either side of her hips. When he looks up at her, Aphrodite can feel the pull to look at him. There’s water beading on his face, and dripping off the ends of his hair. He’s stunning, to say the least, and the way he looks at her… “You seem lonely.”

Clarke snorts. “I’m in a house by myself most of the time, and when Hephaestus comes home I’ll have to continue to act as if everything is okay. But it’s not, and I’ve never been a good liar.”

“Maybe you just need someone to talk to.”

Clarke picks at the blades of grass under her hand. “It’s hard to get Persephone away from her mother for any amount of time. Artemis will come visit me every now and then but,” she shrugs. “She’s very busy.”

“Is there no one else?”

“Apollo stops by every now and then to check in on me, though I believe that is Hephaestus’s doing. Dionysus comes by sometimes, if only to have someone to drink with. Other times to catch me up on any gossip I may have missed and sometimes Apollo comes with him, too.”

“And yet, here you are by yourself on a beautiful day. That doesn’t seem right to me.”

“Well I’m not by myself anymore, am I?” She looks at him, and could swear that there’s a fire burning behind his eyes.

“No. You’re not.”

Before she can question herself, Clarke reaches out and touches the curls that are laying against his forehead, feeling the strands curl around her fingertips before she lets them go. With who she is, it wouldn’t take much to have him eating out of her hand, but she doesn’t want that. It can be fun, but she’s not exactly in the mood for games just yet. Bellamy reaches out and takes her hand, the water soothing her sun-heated skin.

“I always knew your husband was a fool, I just never realized how much.”

Despite herself, Clarke laughs lightly and ducks her head. “I’m sure you could say the same thing about me.”

“It’s not wrong for you to want to believe that you could have a marriage that isn’t like my father’s,” Bellamy squeezes her hand a little. “But I have a feeling you’re not the reason why he did what he did.”

Clarke looks at him. “Before we were married, I could have had my pick for a husband, but I enjoyed the game too much. I suppose this is what I get in return.”

“When I said that you cared about him, you didn’t correct me.” He points out, and he leans closer to her. “You’re not a fool for wanting to be loved by the person who is supposed to love you. He’s the one who messed up.”

“It’s funny. The goddess of love getting love advice from the god of war.” She looks at him. “You sound like you’ve experienced this before.” 

“I might know a thing or two.” He lets her hand slide back into the grass then pushes off the rocks, swimming backwards. “Keep me company?”

Looking around, the sun will set soon and she’ll need to be home before Hephaestus, if he even comes back tonight, but she still has a little more time. “I’d love to.” She smiles at him, and her heart beats a little faster when he does the same. 

Bellamy swims around the spring and Clarke is content to just move her feet around in the water. If she did join him, there’s only one way it would end, she knows it. They talk more than she thought they would, but part of her wonders if it’s because he’s trying to keep her from her thoughts or if he’s trying to win her over little by little. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone has tried to talk to her to get her attention, but she doesn’t care for mindless chatter anymore. She and Finn spent multiple nights staying up and talking, though he would usually talk more than her since he never wanted to hear about her past lovers. 

Even when she’s not looking at him, Clarke is pretty sure she can feel his eyes on her but, then again, everyone’s eyes were usually on her. When she looks up at him, the intensity in which his eyes bore into hers is enough to cause her already warm cheeks to turn hot. Maybe married life has changed her perception on things like this, but she doesn’t remember _blushing_ before. She smiles a little and looks away, tilting her head back towards the sun. She might be slightly pink when she wakes up tomorrow, but it'll be worth it.

Eventually, though, Bellamy swims back to the opening of the spring and Clarke leans back to watch him put some of his clothes back on. He doesn’t seem to care that he’s naked in front of another man’s wife, but she can’t find herself to care about watching him. If Finn wants to crawl under another woman, then she can at least allow herself to look at another man. And there is certainly a lot to look at. When he puts his waist piece back on she pouts, and when he notices it he smiles as he walks towards her.

“Sorry, princess, shows over.”

“What if I demand an encore?” she smiles sweetly at him, and notices the smile he’s fighting to contain as he reaches down to help her up.

“Then there will just have to be a second time.”

When she’s upright on her feet, Clarke has to tilt her head back to look at his face properly. He’s a little taller than Hephaestus, but he fills the space before her like nothing she’s ever seen. Her eyes are drawn to the scar above his lip, and then just his lips, before she brings them back up to meet his. Standing so close to him, it’s almost like she can smell the dirt and the blood that still clings to his armor, but something she’s not sure she can get enough of. Being next to him feels like something dangerous, and her body hums in anticipation of what it means.

“Do you want me to walk you home?”

“No, it’s not far. Besides, I can’t exactly have someone seeing you when Hephaestus is due home any day now.” The thought of going back to their house and spending another night alone is nothing she wants to think about, but she also doesn’t want to think about what will happen when he comes back. 

Bellamy’s hand moves towards her, and just when she thinks he’s going to touch her, he doesn’t. Clarke holds her breath as she looks up at him, and his eyes seem to take every part of her in. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, my windows are never closed.” 

Clarke smiles softly at him. “Maybe one of my doves will find you.” 

“I’ll be waiting for it.” 

With one last look at each other, Bellamy turns around and pulls his helmet over his head as he walks back towards the trees he first came from. Clarke watches him go, and as the sun sinks lower towards the horizon, she starts back towards her house. If Finn comes home, he’ll want her there for when he arrives but if he doesn’t, then maybe she won’t be as lonely tonight.

She sits on the daybed on the balcony, listening to the wind rustling through the trees as she tries to draw a few flower petals that have been swept onto the floor, but with the way the wind keeps moving them, she can never get them down before they change again. Clarke counts down the time until Finn usually returns home, her anxiety growing by the minute, but he never shows. She never knows _for sure_ when he’s coming home, just a vague idea after being together for so long and him telling her what he needs to work on. 

As the hour grows later, Clarke gets up from her daybed and makes her way into the bedroom, sitting down at her vanity. She pulls out a piece of paper and a pen, then bites at her bottom lip as she stares at it. What should she say? She’s only ever talked to Bellamy—Ares—once and it was today. She’s still not entirely sure what to make of that whole interaction.

 _You were right. I am lonely._ _  
__Though I must say I’m relieved that he did not come home._

When she’s certain that that’s what she wants to send, she calls for one of her doves. Three of them fly into the room and perch themselves across her table, and she smiles at all of them as she rolls the piece of paper up and pulls a piece of string from in front of her. She looks at the largest dove and leans forward, wrapping the string and paper around it’s leg. When it’s secure, she picks the bird up and walks towards her balcony again.

“Stay until he writes me,” she whispers, and then lifts her hands and lets the dove out into the night sky.

When the bird is out of her sight, Clarke heads back into her bedroom with her sketches tucked under her arm. He did tell her that he would be waiting to hear from her, but there was still the possibility that he hadn’t meant it. She changes into a gown that’s more comfortable then sprawls across the bed, still sketching. She draws her garden, thinking Persephone might like it when she goes back to Hades once the seasons change, then she draws the spring, and when she’s done with that, Bellamy’s face begins to fill the page. 

She’s not surprised, since he’s been in her thoughts more than her husband and his mistress, which is saying a lot considering they’ve been the only ones she’s thought about for weeks. Just as she’s adding the shading to the water, her dove flies back into her room and lands on the bed beside her with a flower clutched in its feet. She takes it, looking for a piece of paper wrapped to the bird’s leg as she does, but she doesn’t find one. Disappointed, she lifts the flower to smell it, and notices a piece of white tucked in the middle of it. Smiling, Clarke takes out a small, rolled-up piece of paper and flattens it out with one hand while she holds the flower with the other.

_Any night away from you should be considered a crime.  
I’ll be happy to keep you company. I was hoping I would hear from you. _

Clarke continues to smile as she slides off her bed and back to her vanity, pulling out another piece of paper and wondering what she should write. Since he said he was hoping to hear from her, then it seems like he meant what he said after all. Her smile widens as she puts the flower down so she can write, and her mood brightens instantly. 

_Funny, I was just thinking about you when my dove came back._   
_What usually keeps you company on a night when you’re alone?  
And thank you for the flower, it’s lovely._

Once her dove is off again, she returns to her bed and gets back to work on the picture she’s drawn of him. Of course, she can’t keep it, at least, not out in the open. If Hephaestus sees it then there’s no telling how he would react. And she doesn’t want to come out and tell him that she knows what he’s been doing. She could burn it, but then she wouldn’t be able to look at it and there’s no telling when she might be able to see Bellamy again. So, she settles on hiding it. She crawls off the bed and lifts up the side of the mattress and slips it under when she’s done, just in time for her bird to arrive with his next message. Which is something else she’ll have to hide from her husband, but she can’t bring herself to really care what about he'll say.

Over time, night turns into day, and Clarke can't seem to get Bellamy to leave her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never new I need this in my life, but here it is :) I’d love to hear from you!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	3. Late nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn comes home

Finn doesn’t return home the following evening either, so Clarke and Bellamy continue to talk. He takes her mind off what things might be like once Finn returns home, but when she thinks about the fact that she might not be able to talk to Bellamy once he does, there’s an ache in her chest. Of course, some part of her hoped that there would be some way to put the pieces of her marriage back together, at least, what she believes to be pieces. Finn doesn’t know that she knows, and she’s not sure if she should tell him. What would happen if she did? She doesn’t have any say on if they should end their marriage or not, so if he doesn’t want to let her go, then he won’t.

She wonders if she should tell Bellamy her thoughts, or if it would be too personal. The day at the spring, he knew that what Finn was doing hurt her, and the way he talked to her made her feel like she wasn’t as much of a fool she thought she was. She looks down at the piece of paper and brings the flower from his latest message up to smell it. Everytime he sends a note back, it’s always tucked in a flower, and she’s beginning to wonder where he’s finding all of them. Taking a deep breath, she sets to writing.

 _Would it be too much for me to tell you that I’m worried about what will happen when he comes home?_ _  
_ _Whenever I think about it, it fills me with dread and I can’t get rid of it._ _  
_ _How am I supposed to act like everything is fine when it’s not?_ _  
_ _I’m also worried that I’ll feel even more alone with him here than I do now, but I believe that’s because I won’t be able to talk to you._

She reads over her message multiple times but in the end, she decides that it’s something that needs to be said. She rolls it up and wraps it around her dove’s leg then sends it off. She’s not entirely sure how he’s going to respond to it, but even though her heart feels like it’s going to beat out of her chest while waiting for an answer, she does feel like a weight has been lifted off her chest. He said that she could talk to him, so that’s what she’s doing.

Clarke paces around her room a little, sits on her bed for a moment, paces around some more, then decides to wait for the reply on her daybed. Finn has to be coming home soon, and she wants to talk to Bellamy as much as she can before he does. At the very least she wants to read his reply. She twirls the flower around in the air, looking out at the sky as she does, and watches as the colors change from orange and pink to black. She’s not entirely sure how long it takes for her dove to return, but her heart rate picks up when she sees the white speck against the dark sky, and she stands to meet it. 

When the bird is closer, she notices that the flower Bellamy has sent her is a red rose, and her heart aches as she reaches to take it from her dove. She’s careful to avoid the thorns, and she pulls the piece of paper from between the petals just as she hears a door close in the house. Panic begins to rise within her, and Clarke hurries to unroll the paper. She can hear someone coming up the steps, and she turns, throwing the rose into a burning fire next to her.

 _To be worried of your own husband is something no woman should ever feel._ _  
_ _When is he coming home?_ _  
_ _I’ll always be here if you want to talk, even when he’s there. Always._ _  
_ _Though I must say, now I really don’t like the idea of you being alone with him. I’ll only be one message away._

Clarke’s chest aches as she finishes the message, and then she throws it into the fire along with her burning rose, right as the door to her bedroom opens. Finn walks in and he smiles when he sees her, and the panic she’s feeling threatens to consume her.

“Finn,” she says lightly, moving towards him. “You’re home.” As she nears him, any feeling of happiness she used to have has been replaced by uneasiness and anger.

“My beautiful wife,” he grins as he pulls her in for a kiss, and Clarke scrunches her eyes shut as he does. Usually, she’s the one to pull him towards her, happy to welcome him home after he’s been gone for so long, but she has to will herself to kiss him back. Hearing him call her beautiful always made her smile, but now all she can think about is how many times he’s probably called his mistress that. When they pull apart, she smiles a little at him, and he runs his thumb over her cheekbone, but the rage that’s building in her chest makes her want to scream. “I didn’t have time to clean up before I left, so I should bathe.”

“Okay.” She nods her head and looks away from his face, opting instead to look at his chest. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

He gives her one last kiss and she smiles as she watches him disappear into their bathroom. When the door is shut behind him, Clarke turns and writes a quick message on a piece of paper with only two words: _He’s home_ , then she ties it to her dove and sends it off again. There’s never any knowing how long Finn will be home, or how long he’ll have to be gone the next time he leaves, but before he’s even back for five minutes Clarke finds herself hoping he’ll leave soon. Which is a strange feeling. For so long, she always waited for the day he would return, but now she’s counting down the time until he leaves again. 

The image of him under the other girl comes into her mind, and Clarke’s hands ball into fists at her sides. Feeling like this, she wants to tell him that she knows. She wants to see the look on his face as she tells him she’s leaving. But she knows that he wouldn’t let her. She was a gift to him. 

As she tries to take some deep breaths to calm herself down, her dove returns, but this time there’s no flower clutched in its talons as it comes to rest on the railing in front of her. She would be lying if she said that didn’t disappoint her a little. Clarke reaches out and unwraps the piece of paper from its leg and opens it.

 _I can feel your anger from here._ _  
_ _If you ever need me, you know where I’ll be._ _  
_ _I’ll be looking for your dove._

At the corner of the paper, there’s a hand drawn flower, and it makes Clarke’s heart soar a little. She reaches out and pets her dove and it leans into her hand. “There won’t be any more messages tonight,” she whispers, and the dove coos softly before flying off again. She reads over the message one more time before she places it in the fire as well, and makes a mental note that she might need to burn the picture she’s drawn of him, too. 

When Clarke walks back into the bedroom, she looks at herself in the mirror. If she doesn’t want Finn to start asking questions, then she would have to act like there’s nothing wrong. She could do that, couldn’t she? Taking a deep breath, she reaches up and takes the pins out of her hair and runs her fingers through it, then she turns towards her closet. She runs her hand over the different dresses she has, and one made of red silk catches her eye. Finn always preferred her in white, but there’s something about the color that has her drawn to it.

When she’s changed, she lays on the bed and rolls onto her side. The thought that Bellamy said he would be waiting to hear from her has her heart torn between wanting to be happy and being angry and confused. Happy, because he actually wants to talk to her and hear what she has to say, to make sure she’s okay, but angry because she’s going to have to look her husband in the eye and know he’s betrayed her, and confused because even though she always thought she loved him, she can’t seem to find those feelings any more. When she looks at him, there’s nothing but rage.

The door to their bathroom opens, and Clarke closes her eyes for a second before rolling onto her back and looking over at Finn. His hair is damp and sticks to his forehead, unlike Bellamy’s where it always seems to want to curl in any way it can. He grins when he looks at her, and Clarke can feel herself wanting to roll her eyes, but she doesn’t. As he moves towards the bed he takes off the towel that’s wrapped around his waist, and she can’t help but think about how different he is from Bellamy.

Where Bellamy is golden skin and freckles, Finn looks nearly pale. The limp in his step is a stark contrast to the way in which Bellamy walks around like he owns everything, though that’s not something he can help. Hera did throw him off Mount Olympus. When he crawls onto the bed, Clarke’s eyes search his face as he moves towards her. He has brown eyes like Bellamy, but the fire she saw in his isn’t in her husband’s. He moves on top of her, and Clarke takes a silent deep breath as she opens her legs for him to lay into. His dick is nowhere near how she thinks Bellamy’s would feel. Just the thought of Bellamy being the one to climb on top of her is enough to turn her on, and her eyes flutter closed at the image. 

If she tells him no, then it will undoubtedly end in a fight. She used to think that he deserved to have her as soon as he came home, since he could be away for months on end without being able to touch her, but she knows now that that was never a problem. When he leans in to kiss her, Clarke has the sudden urge to slap him, but she closes her eyes and kisses him instead. The thought of him kissing the other woman fills her with anger, and she fists her hands in his hair and holds on tightly. He makes a sound that she’s never heard before, and his grip on her hip tightens.

“Fuck,” he pants against her skin, and moves to latch onto her neck. With his vision blocked, Clarke allows herself to finally roll her eyes. She lets him kiss her neck for a moment, but before he can go down any further, she pushes him onto his back and gets on top of him. “Eager, aren’t you?” He grabs at her ass, and she remembers him doing the same to that girl. 

“You haven’t been touched in so long,” she replies sweetly, and even though she wishes he would show some sort of guilt, he doesn’t. He only grips her tighter as he grinds his hips into her, and Clarke lifts herself up so she can move her dress then takes him in her hand. “Did you miss me?”

“I always miss you.” He smiles at her, and the rage she feels grows even more. She doesn’t say anything as she positions herself and sinks down onto him. She closes her eyes, and imagines that it’s Bellamy she’s feeling, even if the size isn’t right. “God, you feel so good.”

Clarke catches herself before she can snort and leans forward, digging her fingers into his chest. He hisses as her nails dig into him, but that only seems to spur him on more. His grip on her ass tightens, and Clarke closes her eyes as she moves herself. He always likes to be able to see her, but he doesn’t like to help her. He doesn’t like doing much other than talking, actually. 

She thinks about Bellamy at the spring, and how the water clung to his skin. She remembers the feeling of his hand on her ankle and how gently he held her hand. She can almost hear his voice saying her name, and she imagines that it’s his hands that are holding onto her right now. All of the thoughts together overwhelm her, and Clarke bites down on her bottom lip to keep herself from saying his name. She begins to move herself faster, Finn’s hands being more of an annoyance than anything, and she continues to think of Bellamy as she moves closer to the edge.

It’s Bellamy she wants to call out to when she finally comes, and she can feel Finn follow right after her. At the first sign of his breathing returning to normal, Clarke pulls herself off him and rolls into her spot on the bed. Her cheeks are hot, and her heart is racing, but picturing Bellamy is enough to have her wanting to go again. Except, not with Finn. When she looks over at him, his eyes are already falling closed, and Clarke shakes her head a little as she rolls onto her side and waits for his breathing to even out. When it finally does, she gets up and goes to clean herself up in the bathroom.

  
~  
  


Clarke takes to sending Bellamy messages in the morning whenever Finn sleeps in, and at night once he goes to bed. The dangerous feeling from that day at the hot spring returns, and Clarke finds herself wanting to chase it. As the weeks go by, Bellamy takes her mind off everything, even her husband sleeping a few feet from her, as she reads his messages, and one night, she gets an idea.

_When he leaves, maybe we could talk in person_

If he accepts her invitation, she’s not entirely sure how she would be able to act normally around him. She’s thought about him a lot since the day they met, and she thought about him all of the nights she spent with Finn, too. Though she’s not going to tell him that. When her bird comes back, she’s reaching for it before it even has time to land.

_Just tell me when, princess_

Clarke’s heart soars as she reads the message over, but the sound of Finn moving in the bed behind her causes her to throw the piece of paper into the fire before she slips back under the covers. The idea that she may get to see him again makes her mind run with possibilities, and she’s not entirely sure if she actually goes to sleep or not.

Finn is home for a total of six weeks before he has to return to his forge, saying that Zeus needs him to build new armor, better armor, for him, and Clarke has to fight back her excitement as she tells Finn that she’ll miss him. She should feel bad lying to his face, but he’s lying to hers and shows no remorse in doing so, so why should she? If he loved her, he would tell her. If he loved her, he wouldn’t have done it in the first place. And that’s it.

Clarke and Bellamy decide to wait two days after Finn leaves for him to come over, but when the night comes, Clarke finds herself wondering if he actually will or not. She spends more time trying to figure out what to wear than she has in a while, and she chooses to leave her hair down, too.

She sits on the daybed and runs her fingers through her hair while she waits, looking out at her garden and wondering if she’ll be able to see him coming. If he comes, that is. Which is something she’s still not sure will happen. They may have begun flirting with each other the more they talked, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. She’s flirted a lot in her life, usually to get what she wants, but she doesn’t know if she wants anything from Bellamy. Well, she wants _something_ , but she doesn’t know if she can bring herself to go for it. As much as she wants to, she doesn’t want to be like Finn. 

_But aren’t you?_ A little voice in the back of her head whispers, and she bites the inside of her cheek. What was the difference between the flirting that she was doing and Finn actually sleeping with someone else? They’re both cheating, and there’s no telling if Finn actually has feelings for the woman. Not like the ones she’s beginning to have towards Bellamy. So, maybe she is just as bad as Finn then. But how could she go about living her life knowing that her husband doesn’t care about her? At least when Zeus cheats on Hera he apologizes for it. Even if that doesn’t exactly do anything.

There’s a sound at her bedroom door and Clarke stands, turning to look at it. Panic surges through her at the idea that it might be Finn, but when the door opens and she sees a red robe wrapped around a tanned body, she sighs in relief. When Bellamy looks at her, he smiles, and it makes the butterflies in her stomach flutter instead of making her want to vomit. 

“Bellamy.” She moves into her bedroom as he walks towards her, and she’s surprised when he reaches out to pull her into a hug. She wraps her arms around his shoulders as she buries her face into his neck, and Bellamy wraps his around her waist as he pulls her closer to him. He smells how he did on the beach, except the scent of blood isn’t as strong this time, and she begins to wonder if this is how he always smells. When they pull apart, Bellamy’s eyes are wide as he looks at her, and Clarke presses her hand against his chest as she looks up at him. “You came.”

“I told you I would.” He smiles softly at her, and Clarke’s heart leaps. 

“Yeah,” she murmurs. “You did.”

The two of them look at each other for a moment, and every thought she’s ever had of him comes crashing back into her mind. Mainly the ones she had while on top of Finn. Suddenly, she’s very aware of how hard his body feels pressed against hers, and how his hands feel against the exposed skin of her back. Heat rises to her cheeks and Clarke looks away, biting at her bottom lip. 

“Would you like a drink?”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” 

His question causes her to look back at him, and one of his eyebrows is raised. “I don’t see why not.” She turns and walks towards the pitcher of wine. “I could use a drink.”

“Nervous?” Bellamy comes to stand beside her, and Clarke can feel the heat coming off his body. 

“Well, I do have a strange man in my house,” she teases, and a corner of Bellamy’s mouth turns up as he looks down at her.

“Strange, huh?”

Clarke lets her eyes drift down slightly as she looks at him, then she meets his eyes again. “A little.”

Bellamy shakes his head but smiles as he reaches out to pour himself a drink, too. “Do you want to sit outside?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” 

She leads the way to her daybed and sits down, tucking her legs under her, and Bellamy sits beside her, propping himself up with one arm as he looks around. “It’s nice out here.”

“Thank you. Persephone helped me figure out where everything should go.” Clarke looks around, too. “Finn let me have control over the decorating since he’s never here.”

“Finn?” Bellamy asks, turning to look at her, and Clarke stares at him.

“Uh—”

“Why ‘Finn’? It sounds like he wants to be a fish.” 

Clarke snorts then covers her mouth with her hand as she laughs. “It does sound that way, doesn’t it?”

“Just a little.” Bellamy grins as he raises his glass of wine up and takes a sip. When Clarke’s laughing dies down, the two of them sit there in silence for a moment, and she begins to wonder how they could have so much to talk about whenever they’re apart but can’t find anything to say when they’re together. “You didn’t ask me to come here so you could get me into bed, did you?”

The memory of him from the lake comes back to mind and she glances at him before looking down at her drink. Of course she wants him in her bed, but she doesn’t think she can bring herself to do that. “No. I didn’t.”

“Okay, just making sure.” Bellamy takes another sip of his drink and Clarke looks up at him, her eyebrows furrowing together.

“Just making sure?”

He looks at her, and Clarke finds herself frozen, incapable of looking away. “I don’t want you to do something that you might regret.”

“Why would I regret being with you?”

“Because I can see who you are.” There’s a soft smile playing on his lips, and Clarke’s eyes drift down to them. “You’re sweet, and funny, and from the very first day I met you, I knew that you weren’t like the others.”

Clarke tilts her head to the side, looking at him. “Who?”

“The other gods, and goddesses,” he explains. “Like your husband.” The mention of Finn is enough to cause Clarke to look away, but the feeling of the cushions dipping as Bellamy leans towards her causes her to look up at him again. “You’re not a cheater.”

Clarke bites at her bottom lip as she looks at him, and ducks her head, looking up at him through her eyelashes. “I’m no different from my husband.”

“You haven’t thrown yourself under someone else, I don’t think you’re like him at all.”

“But I want to,” she murmurs. Taking a deep breath, Clarke looks up at him and she finds herself getting lost in his brown eyes. “Ever since that day at the hot spring I’ve thought about you. And the more we talk, the more I find myself feeling things for you that I’ve never felt for Finn. But that’s the same as him being with someone else. Isn’t it? Maybe worse. He might not have feelings for her, but I know I have them for you.”

Bellamy’s lips part as he looks at her, and Clarke is pretty sure her heart could beat out of her chest. She likes him, and even though she told herself she wouldn’t let herself get too close, she has anyway. But she doesn’t want it to stop. Bellamy sits up and reaches out, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“I have feelings for you, too.” Clarke sucks in a breath, and Bellamy’s thumb runs across her jaw. “But I know you’re still trying to work through everything, and I get that.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I know you need time. And I’ll be here for you whenever you’re ready.” Clarke can feel tears sting her eyes as she looks at him, and she smiles a little.

“Who knew the God of War could be so understanding?”

Something flashes across Bellamy’s face as he looks at her, but he smiles. “I have my moments.”

Clarke’s smile widens as she looks at him, and her heart feels like it might explode. After all of the pain and anger she’s been feeling over the past weeks, the fact that Bellamy is able to make her feel like everything will be okay is something she hopes she can hold onto. She wants him, which is something she came to terms with weeks ago, but hearing him say that he’ll wait until she’s ready floods her with more emotions than she believed herself capable of feeling. 

The two of them spend the night sitting on the daybed and talking, and Clarke finds that she likes listening to Bellamy’s voice. It’s deep, and gravelly sometimes, and the sound of it is so much different than Finn’s. He talks about some of the battles he’s been in, and in turn he asks Clarke about what her life was like before she was married. He knows some of the stories, since she didn’t exactly keep her sex life private, but he doesn’t respond badly to it like Finn. He listens to her, and at some point they take to asking each other questions that would seem trivial to most, but Clarke loves it. 

Eventually, Bellamy lays down beside her, and Clarke finds herself laying down with him, her hand resting on his chest as his draws shapes on her arm. It’s nice. And Clarke feels content in a way she’s never experienced before. She closes her eyes and runs her hand over the material of his toga, and his fingers leave goosebumps in their wake.

“Thank you for coming,” she whispers, and Bellamy rests his head against hers.

“Of course.”

She props herself up so she can look at him, but his fingers never stop trailing over her skin. “Will you come visit me again?”

“As I said, any night away from you should be considered a crime.” He smiles softly as he says it, and Clarke bites at her bottom lip to try and keep herself from smiling too much.

“You’re just being nice.”

“Haven’t you heard? I’m incapable of being nice.”

“Who says that?” Clarke’s eyebrows knit together as she looks at him. “Just because you’re the God of War doesn’t mean you can’t be nice.”

Bellamy smiles sadly at her, and Clarke’s heart aches. “I’m sure my parents would disagree.”

“Then they don’t know you.” She props herself up as she looks at him. “You’re caring, and funny, and kind, and just because you’re the one people pray to when they need to fight doesn’t mean you're incapable of feeling anything other than anger and rage. You _care_ , and that’s more than what can be said about some of the others.”

“I think you may be the only one to think that. Other than Octavia.”

“Octavia?” Clarke asks, and Bellamy’s smile softens. 

“Athena.”

“I thought the two of you hated each other?”

Bellamy’s smile widens as he shrugs. “We have fun fighting against one another, but I wouldn’t say we hate each other. Some competition is supposed to be good between siblings.”

“But haven’t you tried to kill each other multiple times?”

Bellamy shrugs again. “Okay, so there’s some family problems.”

Clarke shakes her head as she bites back her laugh, but when she looks at him, the way he watches her causes her breath to catch. “I think you might be the only one who truly knows me.”

“I feel the same way about you,” he murmurs, and Clarke looks down at his chest, playing with the fabric that’s covering it.

“People think all I care about is looks and being adored, but I’m not shallow. I like getting to know who someone is, and talking to them.”

“Yeah, I think I got that.” Bellamy smiles at her. 

Before she can respond, the sun begins to light up the sky and there’s a pang in her chest. The sun rising means that Bellamy needs to go, or else there’s the chance he’ll be seen by Apollo. He seems to notice the light at the same time she does, because they both look at each other. Clarke sits up, allowing Bellamy to roll off the couch and stand, and he holds his hand out to help her up. At least there’s been the promise of another time.

She watches him walk towards her bedroom door, and the urge to call out to him overwhelms her. She’s playing with fire, and she knows it, but there’s something about him that has her wishing she could ask him to stay. Maybe if she had told Finn that she knew the truth, then she could ask him to stay. But then there’s also the possibility that if she had told him, then she wouldn’t have even gotten this. Her feet carry her after him and, with her thoughts decided, she calls after him.

“Bellamy?” He turns around to look at her, and Clarke feels like her heart is stuck in her throat. Instead of saying anything, Clarke wraps her arms around his shoulders like when he first arrived, and he wraps his around her waist. She feels safe, content. Which is more than she’s ever felt with Finn. She knows they can’t stay like this for long, but she can’t seem to find it in herself to let him go.

When they finally pull apart, the sun begins to rise higher and higher, but they stay where they are. He reaches up and holds the side of her face with one hand while the other holds her against him. She doesn’t want to say goodbye. The way he looks at her is different than the way Finn does. Bellamy looks at her like she’s something that should be taken care of, cherished, but when Finn looks at her she doesn’t see anything remotely close.

“I’ll be back,” he whispers, and the promise makes her heart beat faster. She shouldn’t want this, she knows that, but she can’t deny the fact that Bellamy makes her feel something no one else has. Before Clarke can second guess herself, she leans up and kisses him on the cheek. 

She can feel his intake of breath, and when she looks at him, his eyes are wide. She probably shouldn’t have done that, and she might feel guilty about it later, but she couldn’t help herself. She needs him to know that this isn’t something she can walk away from. And maybe she knew that this would happen whenever she sent him that first message.

Bellamy takes her hand and kisses the back of it, and holds her gaze for a moment longer before he turns and walks out of the room. The door closes behind him, and the room suddenly feels like it’s not as welcoming as it had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finn makes me uneasy.
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	4. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets are revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is an instance of physical abuse in this chapter. If you want to know what it is, please see the end notes
> 
> On another note: I've recently deleted a comment that was left on chapter 1 on this fic. It's something I've never had to do before and it hurt reading it. I really appreciate those of you who defended me, and I'm grateful for it. Since joining this fandom I've always tried to follow Bob's motto of "Be well, be kind" as I believe all of us should. There's too much hate in the world as it is, and I was just talking to a friend about how I never understood how people could leave rude and hateful comments on fics that are getting made and updated for free because it can take a lot of time to write as much as some people do. I'm not talking about myself, but other writers I know who have gotten comments that are just heartbreaking. I believe the comment I received wasn't that bad even though it did put me in a sad mood for the rest of the day. But, all of that being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter now that my long rant is over! And even though Bob doesn't have a Twitter anymore remember:
> 
> Be well, be kind <3

As promised, Bellamy returns almost every night after that, but when Clarke begins to think that Finn will be coming back, they go back to sending each other messages. She knows she should feel bad about what she’s doing, but she doesn’t. And she doesn’t regret it either. She’s passed the point of caring about what Finn might think and how he might feel, because any time she begins to doubt what she’s doing, she sees his face smiling at her as he lies. And that’s enough. 

He should be coming home any day now after being gone for about two months, and Clarke doesn’t know if she can bring herself to tell him that she’s leaving. She needs to, and she knows that, but she doesn’t know how he’s going to react. Well, she has an idea of how she thinks he’ll react, but that’s what terrifies her. Persephone’s fingers comb through her hair as she begins to braid it, and Clarke plays with the basket of flowers sitting in her lap. She wants to talk to her about this. Afterall, that’s why she sent her a dove in the middle of the night asking if she could be here.

“Persephone, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Aphrodite—”

“Clarke.”

“What?”

She turns and smiles at the other girl. “My name is Clarke.”

Persephone smiles. “Emori.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Clarke smiles as she turns around, and Emori gets to work braiding her hair again. 

“What did you want to ask me?”

“What would you do if you found out that Hades was having an affair?”

“I would kick him into the depths of Tartarus myself.” Emori’s voice is firm as she says it. “He made a promise to me and I don’t care what the others may think. I am not the goddess of marriage so I will not put up with it. But John wouldn’t do it. That much I know.”

“John?”

“Hades,” Emori says, and Clarke can hear the smile in her voice.

“The ruler of the Underworld could have had any name he wanted and he chose _John_?” Clarke laughs. “Why?”

“Believe me, I have no idea.” Emori laughs, too, and she picks up her task again. “Why do you ask?”

Clarke bites the inside of her cheek as she looks towards the fire where she's burned most of Bellamy’s messages so Finn doesn’t see them. “I went to Hephaestus’s forge to surprise him the last time he was gone, and I found him in bed with another woman.”

“Oh, Clarke—”

“She knew his name. _His_ name.” Clarke sighs. “I couldn’t get the image of them out of my head.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I want to leave him, but I do not know if he’ll let me. Zeus gifted me to him so he wouldn’t have a fight on his hands between the other gods and, as his gift, I’m worried he’ll want to keep me here.”

Emori reaches around her and grabs some flowers out of the basket sitting in her lap. The other girl doesn’t say anything as she works, and Clarke begins to wonder if maybe she shouldn’t have said anything at all. But then, “if you can leave, where will you go?”

A soft smile makes its way onto her face and she looks down at the flower in her hand. “Ares said I could come live with him near the coast.”

“Ares?” Clarke can hear the surprise in her friend’s voice, even if she can’t see it on her face. “You’re sleeping with the God of War?”

“We’re not sleeping together, Emori.” Clarke thinks about all of the nights they’ve spent together, and her heart expands. “He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. He’s sweet, and smart, and funny, and—” she stops. The idea of actually getting to be with him overwhelms her, and tears prick the corners of her eyes.

“And?” Emori prompts, and Clarke turns around to look at her.

“And he’s softer than Hephaestus,” she whispers, and she notices the look on Emori’s face before she turns back around.

“You love him.”

“Yes.” Of course she didn’t phrase it like a question. It’s clear that she does. “More than I ever loved Hephaestus. If I ever loved him, that is.”

“Why do you say that you didn’t?”

“I don’t know.” Clarke tilts her head forward how Emori instructs her, and the other girl grabs some more flowers from the basket. “I think that being who I am I wanted to love my husband how a wife should, and even though I thought I did, I think I may have loved the way he praised me more than I did him. He could be very hard to be around at some points. Especially when Dionysus would visit.”

“And you’ve never thought about leaving him before?”

“A few times, yes. But I never thought I could. Like I said, I was a gift, and not one he would give up easily.”

“Have you told Ares this?”

“Yeah, I have. He’s willing to start a war for me if he needs to, though I do not think Zeus would appreciate that.”

“No, I don’t think he would.” Emori finishes her hair and places her hands on her arms as she leans forward and rests her chin on her shoulder. “You deserve to be treated better than Hephaestus can give you, and if that person is Ares then I think you should follow what your heart tells you.”

Clarke leans back against her friend. “Does it make me a bad person to fall in love with someone else while I’m still married?”

“Not when your husband is the one who drove you to it.”

Clarke thinks about it and nods her head, smiling at her friend a little. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Of course.” Emori smiles, too. “And I’ll always be one dove away if you need someone to put Ares in his place.”

“I know.” Clarke turns around and repositions herself on the couch. “Now, your turn.”

  
~  
  


Finn returned home that following night and, much to Clarke’s relief, fell asleep almost immediately. Something she decided while he was gone, was that there was no way she could continue to sleep with him when she didn’t want to. She was done trying to keep him happy while she figured out what she wanted to do, because she knows what she wants to do. Though, doesn’t mean she’ll actually be able to do it. Finn can have a very bad temper, like that of a spoiled child, when something doesn’t go his way or if something happens that he doesn’t like. Clarke always assumed it was because pretty much all of the gods are like that, but she’s come to realize over the years that Finn feels like he was owed much more than everyone else because of how he was treated. 

After a few days of Finn being home, Clarke gets a message from Persephone to visit her at her mother’s, which Clarke is very happy to do. During her time there, the two of them do not bring up the situation around Demeter, but before Clarke leaves, Emori pulls her aside to ask her if there’s any plan for what she’s about to do. There isn’t, at least not really, but Clarke figures it’s better to lay everything out in front of him and tell him that she’s leaving rather than dance around it. She’s done enough of that. 

When she returns home, there’s a strong smell of wine as she climbs the stairs to their bedroom, and when she enters, she sees Dionysus laying on the daybed on the balcony while Finn leans against the railing. The God of Wine turns around when the door opens and he grins at her, his brown eyes glassy.

“Ah! The Goddess of Love!” He exclaims. “I was afraid I wouldn't see you before I left.” Dionysus rolls off the daybed and tries to stand, but he stumbles to the side before holding up his hands. “I got this.”

Clarke laughs as she walks to meet Dionysus half-way, and he wraps her into a big hug. “It’s nice to see you, too.”

Dionysus presses a kiss to the side of her head and turns around to look at Finn, his arm still wrapped around Clarke’s shoulders. Though it’s more for support than anything. “You are the luckiest man in the world.” He grins down at Clarke. “Men would die to have her in their bed.”

“I think you’re drunk, my friend,” Clarke laughs, and Dionysus gives her a lazy grin.

“I’m always drunk.” He raises the bottle of wine in his hand. “To Aphrodite’s beauty. May she continue to break the hearts of everyone she meets. I’ll take my leave,” he looks at her, “I’m sure I’ve annoyed your husband enough today.”

Clarke laughs as she shakes her head, and then waves goodbye to Dionysus as he walks towards the door. She has half a mind to help him down the stairs, but whenever she tries he always swats her hands away and assures her that he’s got it. That’s how he ended up falling from the second floor one time. When she turns back to Finn, there’s a look in his eye that makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but she lifts her head as she looks at him.

“It seems the two of you had fun,” half of her mouth turns up in a smile. “You didn’t let him talk you into another one of his drinking games, did you?”

She expects Finn to smile and tell her that he won, or something, but he just shrugs and turns around to look out over the railing. “I’ll come inside when I finish my drink.”

“Okay.” Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together as she looks at his back. “I should bathe. I’ve got pollen and dirt all over me.” She turns to head to their bathroom but his voice stops her.

“So, you went to Persephone’s then?”

“Demeter’s.” Clarke turns around, resting her hand on the doorframe. “I told you Persephone asked me to come visit her at her mother’s.”

“Oh, right. Of course.” He still doesn’t turn around to look at her as he talks, and Clarke narrows her eyes as she looks at him for a moment. There are times when he drinks himself into a bad mood, but Dionysus seemed fine, and usually if there’s something going on with Finn he’ll pull Clarke aside and tell her.

She grabs herself a glass of wine as she makes her way into the bathroom, and starts filling up the bath. She loves helping Emori and her mother, but it always leaves her with dirt caked under her nails and enough pollen to keep the bees happy for a very long time. She sits on the edge of the tub as she waits for it to fill, running one hand through the water while holding her wine with the other. She knows she can’t drink much, since she’ll need a clear head for whatever Finn decides to throw at her once she tells him, but with the mood he’s in, she wonders if it would be better to wait until the morning. 

When she’s satisfied with the temperature, Clarke slips off her dress and lowers herself into the water. Her eyes flutter closed at the feeling, and she leans her head back against the edge of the tub. After a long day, and knowing that she’s about to end her marriage, she welcomes the little bit of relief this brings her. She can see the sun sinking in the sky from the mirror across from her, and she knows that she’ll have to face him sooner rather than later. She allows herself a little more time to soak before she cleans herself, and just when she’s getting out of the tub, she hears a loud _thud_ come from the bedroom. 

Curious, Clarke grabs her robe off the hook beside her and wraps it around her as she walks towards the door that leads into the room. When she opens it, Finn is sitting at the foot of the bed running a hand over his face, and he looks at her when she walks towards him.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s fine.” Finn leans forward and rests one of his arms on his knee as he looks at her and smiles a little.

“That’s good. I heard the noise, I didn’t know what happened.” She turns and walks towards her wardrobe, wondering what she should wear. Despite her best attempts, her shoulders are a little red from spending so much time outside, so she doesn’t want anything that might irritate her skin, but she’s beyond opting to wear nothing at this point. 

As she looks for a dress, she can hear Finn milling about the room behind her, but it’s only when she notices him walking up behind her that she looks at him in the mirror. His eyes look bloodshot, and there’s a deep line between his eyebrows as he looks at her. There’s something about him that has Clarke on edge, but she can’t quite figure out what it is. She’s been around him a lot when he drinks, but she’s never felt like this before. It feels like there’s something _wrong_ , but she can’t figure out what it is.

He stops behind her and they look at each other in the mirror. He smiles at her, but it makes her blood want to run cold. She gives him a small smile in return then looks back at her dresses. She doesn’t want to tell him that she’s leaving while she’s still naked. Except, Finn seems to have other things in mind. He reaches out and runs his fingers from her neck to the collar of her robe, and then up and over her shoulder and down her arm. Before she can say anything, he leans forward and presses a kiss to the bottom of her neck as his other hand comes up to pull her robe back.

“Finn—”

“I love when you say my name.” He slurs against her skin, and Clarke’s body tenses. “I missed you.”

“Okay,” Clarke turns around and places her hand on his chest. A look of anger flashes across his face before it melts into frustration, and Clarke’s heart rate picks up. “We need to talk.”

“We can talk later.” He wraps an arm around her and pulls her towards him, going back to his task from earlier, but Clarke grabs his shoulders and moves him back. “What the fuck, Clarke?”

“I’m not in the mood.” She narrows her eyes at him. “But we really need to talk.”

“Okay, you want to talk? You haven’t even touched me since I’ve been back but you’ll let Dionysus put his hands all over you.”

Clarke gapes at him. “Dionysus did not put his hands all over me, Finn. He gave me a hug and then used me to keep himself upright while he continued to drink. If you believe that is considered putting your hands all over someone then I’d like to know what you think you were just doing.”

“But Dionysus is not your _husband_. I am.”

“Finn—”

“I’m talking,” he growls, and Clarke’s eyes widen as she looks at him. “You parade yourself in front of everyone during meetings, letting them look at what’s mine. Letting them touch what’s mine. And you enjoy every single moment of it.”

“I am not your property!” Clarke's voice rises. “And I do not _parade_ myself in front of anyone. I am always by your side when you call for me, and _you_ were the one who wanted me to wear those dresses because _you_ wanted to show people that you were the one who got to marry me.”

“I wonder what they would think of you knowing that as a wife you’ll fuck anyone else except your husband.”

Rage flares in Clarke’s chest and she fixes her husband with a glare. “That’s rich coming from a man who’s been getting laid whenever he’s supposed to be working.” Finn’s eyes widen and Clarke takes a step forward. “I was nothing but faithful to you for _years_. I cooked for you, I kept the house clean, and whenever you would come home I would show you how much I missed my _loving husband_ , all the while you were lying to my face. Do not tell me that I was the one being unfaithful when you were the one seeking validation through other women to feed your fragile ego.”

Before she can react, Finn rears back and slaps her across the face. Clarke whimpers at the contact and her hand comes up to cover the stinging area as tears well in her eyes. Finn’s eyes widen, like he wasn’t expecting that to happen, and when he reaches out for her, she backs away.

“Do not touch me,” she hisses. “This marriage is over, Finn, and I want you gone.” She pushes her way past him and towards the bathroom. “Leave.” She slams the door behind her and sinks down onto the floor. 

Tears fall down her face as she pulls her knees to her chest and puts her head down. The pain in her cheek ebbs away, but there’s still a slight throbbing feeling whenever she presses her palm to it. She can hear Finn moving around in the room behind her, slamming drawers and knocking things over, but she doesn’t move from her spot. In all of her time of being with him, he’s gotten in her face, yelled at her, thrown things and hit things, but he’s never hit _her._

When the door to their bedroom slams shut, Clarke counts to a hundred and then back again before deciding to stand up and making her way into the room. Despite what she heard, nothing seems out of place, and Clarke wraps her arms around herself as she looks around. Tomorrow, she’ll move all of her things over to Bellamy’s but, for tonight, she just needs him here with her. She doesn’t bother to sit down as she writes out her note, and her dove is already waiting for her whenever she walks out onto the balcony. The night is calm, peaceful, and as Clarke watches her dove fly off into the distance, she can feel herself beginning to relax. It’s done.

By the time Bellamy shows up, Clarke has cried to the point of making her eyes puffy and given herself a headache. And it’s not because of the fact that her marriage is over, she’s happy it is, but it’s because of the hatred she saw in Finn’s eyes, and it terrifies her. When the door to the bedroom opens, Clarke rolls onto her side to see Bellamy walking towards her. His hair is wild, and there’s a pink tint to his cheeks when he nears her. Neither of them say a word as he crawls into the bed next to her and when he opens his arms, Clarke goes willingly.

With him, there’s nothing she needs to be afraid of. Finn can’t do anything to her when she’s with Bellamy, Bellamy won’t let him get anywhere close. Clarke buries her face into his chest, breathing in the scent of him that she’s come to love over the past few months, and Bellamy’s fingers comb through her hair as they lay there. A part of her knows that there’s going to be _something_ to deal with when it comes to Finn. Whether he wants to have another argument or try to claim that Clarke belongs to him again, but as she lays there wrapped up in Bellamy’s arms, all of those thoughts drift away. This is something that needed to be done a long time ago, and now it has been. 

“Are you okay?” Bellamy whispers after a while, and Clarke leans back to look at him, smiling.

“I’m a lot better now.”

“Will you tell me what happened?” Bellamy’s eyes bore into hers as they look at each other, his fingers never stopping as they move through her hair.

“It began after Dionysus left,” Clarke murmurs. “Since I spent the day with Persephone and her mother, I decided to bathe since Finn said that he wanted to finish his drink, and when I came out I was trying to find something to wear when he came up behind me.” Bellamy’s body tenses when she says that, and she places her hand on his chest. “Nothing like that happened.”

His eyes search her face, and after a moment he nods. “He tried, but I told him no. That we needed to talk. He didn’t like that. He claimed that I let Dionysus put his hands all over me but wouldn’t let my own husband touch me.” Her eyes drop from his face to his chest, and she runs her fingers along the material of his toga. “He said that I paraded myself in front of the others, letting them see and touch what was _his_ , but I’m not his property and I told him so.” Clarke takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “He said that he wondered what everyone else would think of me when they found out that I would fuck anyone except my husband, and I told him that it was rich hearing him say that since he’s been getting laid whenever he’s supposed to be working.” Bellamy still says nothing, just running his hand through her hair. “And then he slapped me.” Bellamy stills. 

“ _Clarke._ ” She can hear the shock in his voice, and she looks up at him. His eyes are on fire, and there’s something in them she hasn’t seen before. 

“I’m okay, Bellamy.” His eyebrows knit together as he looks at her face, like he’s trying to find a mark on her. “I told him not to touch me, and that our marriage was over and that he needed to leave. It’s over.”

“He hit you, Clarke.” The fire behind Bellamy’s eyes grows. “He can’t get away with that.”

“Please, Bellamy,” Clarke places her hand on his chest. “I don’t want to start something with him. I’ve spent years with him, and I don’t want to spend more years fighting with him.”

Bellamy’s lips press into a thin, firm line as he looks at her, but after a minute he nods, and Clarke lets out a breath as she curls back into him. “Do you believe that he will let you go that easily?”

Clarke tightens her hold on him. “I don’t know,” she admits. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Bellamy pulls back and places two fingers under her chin, tilting her head up to his. ”It’s nothing _we_ can’t handle. Okay?”

“Okay.” Clarke smiles up at him. “Together.”

“Yeah,” Bellamy smiles, too. “Together.”

  
~  
  


Clarke starts awake to the feeling of something falling down on her, and when she opens her eyes, there's a fine golden net covering her and Bellamy. When she looks around, Finn is standing at the foot of the bed. She can feel Bellamy move beside her, and when she looks, he’s glaring at Finn with so much rage and hatred, that she wonders if this is what he looks like when he goes into a battle. When she looks back at Finn, there are dark circles under his eyes, and they’re even more bloodshot than they had been the night before.

“What are you doing, Finn?” Clarke seethes, and Finn’s mouth turns up in a snarl.

“What am _I_ doing?” He slurs. “ _I’m_ watching my wife sleep in the arms of another man.”

“She’s not your wife anymore,” Bellamy says calmly.

“Oh? Then whose is she if not mine?”

“She’s no one’s. She’s not an object to possess.”

Finn snorts. “ _God of War_ , think you haven’t been fooled by her yourself?”

“I know I haven’t, and despite what you may think, you haven’t been either. If anything, you’re the one to blame for having pushed her away. Though, I suppose I should thank you, shouldn’t I? If you hadn’t taken her love for you for granted then I wouldn’t know what it’s like to have her in my arms.”

Clarke bites back her laugh as she watches Finn’s face, and Bellamy’s fingers begin to move across the exposed skin of her arm. She’s past the point of feeling bad for him, because after last night, he deserves it. Something crinkles in his hand, and when she looks, he’s holding the drawings she made of Bellamy and hid under the mattress. Their conversation from the night before comes back to her mind, and she realizes that the reason why he must have been acting the way he was, was because he found them while she was out. Bellamy seems to notice the drawings, too, because he gives Finn a lazy smile. 

“What? Upset that I’m the inspiration for her art? You have to admit, I’m much better to look at.”

Finn makes a sound close to a strangled roar, and Clarke’s hand tightens on Bellamy’s clothes. She knows that he can’t hurt her, but after last night...Bellamy’s arm tightens around her, and when she looks up at him, his jaw ticks as he looks at Finn. Without saying anything, Finn walks out to the balcony and screams at the sky for Apollo, telling him that he has something for everyone to see.

Before long, the rest of the Olympian gods and goddesses are filling the bedroom, and Clarke can feel her cheeks heat up under their gazes. Apollo and Dionysus are whispering to each other off to the side, Poseidon and Hermes are also mumbling things to each other, while Demeter and Artemis look like they would rather be somewhere else. Then there’s John with Emori by his side who’s glaring at Finn along with Octavia. Bellamy told her that he explained the situation to his sister, and from the way he spoke, his sister was happy for them. She didn’t like Hephaestus. 

Zeus and Hera appear after everyone, and when they look at Clarke and Bellamy in the bed together, their gazes find Finn.

“And why, son, did you call us in to see this?” Zeus asks, and Finn smirks.

“So you can see what I was just telling you, father,” he looks at Clarke. “She’s not fit to be my wife. I have her trapped in bed with another man.”

“Oh, how terrible for them,” Dionysus snickers, and Clarke buries her face into Bellamy’s shoulder to hide her smile. 

Zeus raises an eyebrow and looks at the two of them in the bed, and Clarke smiles at him as she leans on to Bellamy’s shoulder. “So, what would you have me do?”

"I want a divorce. I can't stay with a woman who will jump into bed with anyone who may cross her path," Finn says, and Emori and Octavia snort.

Zeus ignores them, looking from his son to Clarke and back again. "Very well, then. Now, let them go."

When Finn finally lets them out of the net, Bellamy wastes no time getting Clarke out of the house and towards his own, promising that he'll make sure that he gets all of her things soon. But Clarke doesn't care about any of that. Once the door of his house closes behind them, Clarke wraps her arms around Bellamy's neck and pulls him in for a kiss. He's soft against her, a stark contrast to how he was only moments before. He wraps his arms around her, his hand tangling in her hair as he deepens the kiss, and Clarke sighs against his mouth happily. This feels right. This feels like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Finn gets drunk and slaps Clarke
> 
> Only one more chapter to go! I really enjoyed writing this fic and, fair warning, the rating is really going to apply tomorrow!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	5. A love story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're back in the bar :)

“Clarke,” he says her name slowly, and she smiles. “You seem like you could use some company.” She bites the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, but she finds this whole situation to be hilarious. Her mind drifts back to the day they met, and her smile widens. She never knew they would be here right now. 

“And you think that company should be you?” She asks, raising an eyebrow at him, and Bellamy’s lips press together as he looks like he’s about to laugh.

“I’ve been told I’m very good company.” He picks up his drink and takes a sip of it, and Clarke shrugs.

“I don’t know who may have told you that, but I pity them. You seem like trouble.”

“But isn’t that part of the fun?” He leans forward, and Clarke’s eyes stay locked on his. “The trouble?”

“Some girls don’t like trouble.”

Bellamy smirks at her, and his eyes take all of her in before moving back to her face. “Something tells me you’re not one of them.”

Well, of course she’s not. “Okay,” Clarke flips her hair over her shoulder and looks at him. “What did you have in mind?”

“Dance with me.” 

“Dance? With you?”

“Why not?” Bellamy tosses back the rest of his drink and stands, holding out his hand for her. “It’ll be fun.”

Clarke smiles as she finishes off her drink too, and places her hand in his. It’s always been a lot bigger than hers, and she loves the way his calluses feel against her skin. They thread their fingers together as he leads the way out onto the dance floor, and when he turns around to look at her, Clarke pulls him as close as she can.

“Do you always dance this close to strangers you just met,” Bellamy asks, smiling down at her, and his hands grip her hips as he presses her closer.

“Only the hot ones,” she murmurs, and Bellamy’s smile widens.

“You think I’m hot?”

“Yes, but,” Clarke tilts her head from side to side, “not as hot as me, though.”

Bellamy laughs as he spins her around, and he presses her back into his chest. “No one is as hot as you.”

“Now you’re just trying to flatter me.”

“Love,” Bellamy rests his cheek against her head, and his breath fans out across her ear, “you are single-handedly the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on.” Clarke hums and leans her head against his shoulder. “You’re not going to break my heart, are you?”

Clarke smiles, reaching around to tangle her hand in his hair. “No. I think I’ll keep you around for a little longer,” she teases.

“Then, let me make it something to remember.” He kisses her exposed shoulder and goosebumps erupt on her skin. She’ll never let him go, just like he’ll never let her go. They made promises to each other, and they’re not ones either of them are willing to break. Not that they would want to anyway.

Clarke grinds herself against him, and Bellamy kisses every part of her he can reach. She notices others looking at them, some being more open about it than others, but she doesn’t mind. She has a thing for being in public, and Ares is more than willing to go along with it. After he’s undoubtedly sucked a couple of bruises on to her neck, Clarke turns around and crashes her lips to his. They’re soft under hers, and his skin is smooth, like he just shaved before coming here. 

Bellamy shows no concern about letting his hands move down to grab her ass, and he presses her even closer to him. If they were human, they would probably care a little more about causing a scene, but it’s not like anyone in this bar can do anything to them. When they pull apart, there’s a fire dancing behind Bellamy’s eyes and Clarke can feel her entire body respond to it.

“Would you like another drink?” Bellamy asks over the loud music, and Clarke nods. She wonders if he brought the nectar.

Bellamy wraps his arm around her shoulders as he leads the way back to the bar, and the bartender raises his eyebrows when he sees the two of them. Clarke smiles as she hops onto a stool and Bellamy leans against the counter as he orders them each a drink. She can feel everyone’s eyes still on them, but she’s used to it. Afterall, everyone always looks at them.

When the drinks are ordered, Bellamy tells her that he’ll be right back and disappears down the hallway with the bathrooms, and Clarke starts sipping on her drink when the bartender puts it down. She lets her mind drift as she thinks about what all Bellamy might have planned for tonight, because anytime she tries to ask him, he just smiles at her and tells her that she’s being nosey.

She doesn’t pay any attention to the person who sits down beside her, and it’s only when she can feel them lean in towards her that she looks at them out of the corner of her eye. It’s a guy that’s been looking at her ever since she walked in, but hasn’t really stopped. Of course, everyone notices her when she shows up somewhere, it’s because of who she is, but every now and then there’s always one person who just can’t seem to let her go.

“Can I help you?” She raises an eyebrow at him as she continues to sip on her drink.

“Dance with me.”

“No, thank you. I’m enjoying my drink.” Clarke turns around on the stool, away from the guy, but he reaches out and swivels it back to face him.

“But I want you to dance with me.”

“Look,” Clarke leans forward, and the guy’s eyes widen. “You’re drunk. I’m here with someone.”

The guy looks around. “I don’t see anyone.” He gets off the stool and looks at her. “Dance with me.”

Sighing, Clarke swirls the liquid around in her glass. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”

“Not until you dance with me.” When she doesn’t answer, he moves towards her, and Clarke looks up at him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Dance with me.” He reaches out and grabs her arm, and before Clarke can even put her drink down he’s pulling her to her feet. 

“Let go of me.”

“You—” Before he can finish his sentence he turns around, and there’s a blur of moment as Bellamy punches him. The guy’s grip on Clarke’s arms disappears, and as the guy falls to the floor the bartender yells something from behind the bar.

“She said to let go of her,” Bellamy growls as he stands over the man that’s sprawled out on the floor. It’s a stance she’s seen a lot over their years together, and she can see him in all of his battle armor better than the clothes he’s wearing. 

There’s a commotion in the bar, and a bustling of people off to the side, but the grin that Bellamy gives her makes her heart race. She can never take him anywhere without it ending in a fight, but she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t a turn on. There’s more shouting going on around them, and Bellamy holds out his hand for Clarke to take, and she steps over the body on the floor. 

When they get outside, Bellamy pulls her around the corner of the building and before Clarke can ask what they’re doing, he presses his lips to hers. His hands leave a trail of fire in their wake as he touches her, and when Clarke nips at his bottom lip, Bellamy groans into her mouth. 

“Bellamy,” Clarke pants. “I need you.”

Bellamy smiles as he kisses her quickly on the lips. “And I need you in a bed.”

“But—”

“You deserve better than me fucking you with my fingers in an alley.” She knows he’s right, but she still pouts anyway. “Let’s get back to the room.” He kisses her one last time before he pushes off the wall, and Clarke follows after him as he starts towards their apartment. 

After some weird looks from their uber driver, and a very clumsy attempt to hide the fact that she was trying to get Bellamy’s pants unbuttoned when in a crowded elevator, they’re finally at the door to their apartment and Clarke succeeds in getting the button on his jeans open. Bellamy pushes into the room and Clarke follows after him, but before the door can close all the way, Bellamy picks her up and presses her into the wall, causing her dress to ride up to her hips.

“You’re impatient,” He murmurs into her collarbone, and Clarke hums as she wraps herself around him.

“I’m horny.”

“Did seeing me punch that guy turn you on, princess?” She can feel him smile against her as the sound of his jeans hitting the floor echoes in the room. 

“It always turns me on.”

At the feeling of the tip of his cock bumping at her entrance, Clarke’s grip tightens on him. He tilts his head up to kiss her as he presses into her, and Clarke moans into his mouth. She’s already soaked, if the underwear she gave him was anything to go by, and the way he feels as he seats himself all the way inside of her makes her head fall back against the wall. 

She looks down at him through heavy-lidded eyes, and the way Bellamy is already looking at her...she clenches around him, and Bellamy’s head drops to her chest as he starts to move. This isn’t going to last long, but they have all night. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that…

“Bellamy,” Clarke whimpers, and he presses a kiss to her chest before kissing up her neck. “ _God_ , Bellamy.”

“Fuck, Clarke.” He pants, and Clarke’s hands fist in his hair. It always amazes her how he can be so soft and gentle with her, and then turn around and fuck her against a wall like he hasn’t touched her before. 

When their eyes meet again, Clarke bites at her bottom lip. Their lives together flash through her mind, and the memory of how desperate she had been the first time he laid her in his bed comes back to her. All of their time together that led to that moment had her shaking with anticipation, and it was one of the best nights of her life. They welcomed a daughter because of that night.

Bellamy’s breathing becomes erratic as his hips snap into hers, and Clarke can feel herself teetering on the edge. “ _Bellamy_ ,” she whispers, and when Bellamy mouths at her breast through the material of her dress, she’s lost. Her orgasm washes over her like a tidal wave, and she clenches around him like a vice. She should tell him that she’s grateful he didn’t let her persuade him to take her in the alley. Not that that would have been the first time it’s happened. 

He follows quickly after her with his head pressed into her shoulder and his ragged breathing is hot against her skin. He holds her up against the wall still as they get their breathing under control, and when he finally pulls out of her, Clarke pouts at the loss. He sets her down gently onto her feet, and Clarke keeps her arms around him as she pulls him in for another kiss.

“That was hot,” she murmurs, and Bellamy rests his forehead against hers.

“Maybe I should hit people more often,” he grins, and Clarke rolls her eyes.

“I was talking about you taking me against the wall but, yeah, that was hot, too.” 

Bellamy kisses her sweetly, and Clarke melts against his chest. “Happy anniversary, Aphrodite.”

“Happy anniversary, husband.” Clarke giggles, and Bellamy laughs lightly as he kisses her again.

After they move away from the wall, Clarke lays down on the bed expecting Bellamy to join her, but he disappears into their bathroom. She frowns at the door, wondering what he could possibly be doing that would have him leave her alone in their bed, but then she can hear the water start to run in the bathtub and she smiles. She likes taking baths with him. 

When Bellamy walks out of the bathroom, Clarke smiles at him from the bed, and the grin he gives her makes her heart swell. “You’re gorgeous.”

“I think you may have told me that once or twice,” she giggles, and Bellamy stops beside the bed, looking down at her. 

“I have a surprise for you,” he says, leaning onto the bed, and Clarke raises her eyebrows at him.

“A surprise for me?”

“Yes.” He holds his hands out for her, and Clarke takes them. He leads her into the bathroom, and when she looks at the tub, there’s steam rising from it and it’s filled with a bunch of flowers.

“Bellamy, it’s lovely.” She walks towards it, and the closer she gets the better it smells. 

“I asked Emori if she could put it together. That’s what took me so long to get to the bar.” Bellamy runs his hand over the back of his neck. “So, you like it?”

“I love it.” Clarke walks over and leans up on her tiptoes to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Are you going to join me?”

“She made it very clear that it was only meant for you.” He gives her a lopsided grin then presses a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll let you relax and go order some food.”

“Okay.” They kiss each other one last time, and after Bellamy unzips her dress with a kiss to her shoulder, he walks out of the bathroom, closing the doors behind him. 

She slips her dress off and climbs into the tub. The water is hot and it makes her skin tingle as she sinks into it, and the flowers that Emori picked out make her feel like she’s drunk on some of Jasper’s wine. She lowers herself further into the water until it’s nearly up to her chin, and she closes her eyes. She doesn’t know what Emori did, but she’s pretty sure she never wants to leave.

She reaches over and grabs her phone off the counter since she hadn’t bothered to bring it with her, and pulls up Emori’s contact, pressing the call button.

“Aphrodite, the love of my life,” Emori says when she answers. 

“Careful, Persephone,” Clarke smiles, “your husband might not appreciate hearing that.”

“I don’t know, he might be into it. Though, I think it’s _your_ husband who would have a problem with it.” She can hear the smile in her friend’s voice as she looks towards the doors that separate her from Bellamy.

“Possibly.” Clarke hums as she sinks a little further into the water. “Thank you for helping him with the flowers. I don’t know what you did, but I don’t think I want to leave the tub.”

“I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. If you have any left, you should try eating one.”

“Eating one?” Clarke sits up and looks around for a dry flower, and finds where Bellamy left the box on the counter. She picks up a pink one and looks at it. “What will it do?”

“Let’s just say, Ares might have to work on his stamina in the end.”

“Hmm…” Clarke pops the small flower in her mouth, and it dissolves against her tongue. “Nectar?”

“And a hint of honeysuckle.”

“And?”

“And a few other things.”

Clarke is pretty sure she can hear Emori smirking from the other end of the line, and it makes her giggle. “Can I give some to him?”

“Sure. But the two of you might not go to sleep.”

The doors to the bathroom open and when Clarke looks over, Bellamy is standing in the doorway with an amused look on his face. He bites at his bottom lip as he looks at her, and Clarke can feel her body beginning to hum, wanting him to touch her again. He walks towards her, and Clarke’s eyes drift down his body as he nears her.

“Hey, Em? I gotta go. My husband is looking at me with sex eyes.”

Emori snorts. “Have fun.”

“I definitely plan on it.” Clarke hangs up the phone and tosses it onto her dress that’s beside the tub, and Bellamy kneels down beside her.

“Sounds like the two of you may have been conspiring against me.” He leans his arms onto the side of the tub. “Should I be worried?”

“Not at all.” Clarke smiles as she reaches for another flower. “Well, not about that. Open.” Bellamy does as he’s told and Clarke places the flower on his tongue. She watches as his eyebrows rise towards his hairline.

“Nectar?”

“And honeysuckle, and apparently something that Emori had up her sleeve.” Bellamy hums. “She says you might need to work on your stamina.”

“Since when has my stamina ever been an issue? I’ve always been able to keep up with you.”

This time it’s Clarke’s turn to hum, and she reaches out, placing her fingers under his chin and drawing him in for a kiss. “There’s always a first time for everything.”

“Yes, there is.” Bellamy leans in to kiss her again, and Clarke loves being able to taste the flower that dissolved on his tongue. “The food will take longer to get here than I expected.”

“Then, it looks like we’ll just have to find something to do to pass the time,” she murmurs, and Bellamy’s eyes spark.

“I could think of a few things.”

“Hmm…” Clarke leans back in the tub and looks at him. “I’ll be out in a minute. There’s a bottle of wine I’ve hidden under the bed that Jasper sent as a present. Could you pour me a glass?”

“Of course.” Bellamy gives her a chaste kiss then reaches across her to grab another flower. “Do you want it in here or for when you get out?”

“When I get out, please.” She smiles up at him, and he grins as he kisses her forehead.

“Okay.”

He doesn’t close the doors all the way this time, so Clarke takes a moment to watch him move around the bedroom. Nothing about him has changed since the day she met him, just as none of the others have changed, either. His skin is still the tanned golden color she fell in love with, and she noticed early on that his freckles darken in the summertime and lighten in the winter. There’s a few more scars on his body now than what there had been, but it’s to be expected. He’s seen a lot more wars.

She listens as he pops the cork on the wine and hears the glasses clink as he pours their drinks. In the beginning, people thought that what they had wouldn’t last. After all, how could the Goddess of Love and the God of War get along so well? He was the complete opposite of her, and the other gods thought it was just a romance that thrived because of the secrecy of it all. But there were some who knew the truth. Persephone and Athena, Emori and Octavia, were the two who knew their relationship for what it was. Two people who fell madly in love with each other.

By their laws, the two of them are not technically married, but Persephone and Athena both gave their blessings on the marriage, and Jasper, Monty, and Murphy attended their wedding. It was small, and just something for the two of them, but that was enough. Clarke may not have a ring to show people, but she doesn’t need one. The ring she wore last time didn’t mean anything in the end. Of course, she’ll look at the ones other women wear from time to time and wonder what kind of ring Ares would get her, but she hasn’t told him that. 

When she hears the bed dip, she decides she’s soaked long enough and begins to bathe. Some of the flowers have dissolved since being put in the water, and they make the water feel like she’s bathing in silk. When she gets out, her skin is smooth and soft, a lot more than it usually is, and she makes a mental note to ask Emori what exactly she did because she wants to experience this more often. She looks over to the slip she bought for tonight, a deep blue one that she was sure Bellamy would love. But he loves her in pretty much anything.

She pulls the silk slip on, smiling at how nice it feels after her bath, then opens the doors that lead into the bedroom. Bellamy is laying on the bed with his shirt already off and she can see the subtle hint of wine staining his lips. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was wearing blue jeans, she would think they’re back home on Olympus, but as she walks towards him she can hear the sound of cars passing by on the street below, and the sound of police sirens off in the distance. 

His eyes are heavy on hers as she walks to the foot of the bed, and when she stops, he smiles at her. “You’re a goddess among women.”

Clarke giggles. “Only you could say something like that after having one glass of wine.” She crawls onto the bed, and when she lays beside him, Bellamy hands her the glass of wine.

“But it’s true.”

“Is it? I didn’t notice.” She takes a sip and her eyes flutter closed at the taste. Dionysus really did have the best wine saved for special occasions. Bellamy turns onto his side and his hand comes to rest just above her knee that’s exposed from the high slit in her dress.

“You look breathtaking.”

“Thank you.” Clarke smiles and looks down to where his hand is slowly moving up and down her leg. “Do you like it?”

“I love it.” He leans forward and kisses her shoulder. “Did you wear it for me?”

“I bought it for you.” She tilts her head to the side and Bellamy kisses a line up her neck. When he pulls back, Clarke takes another sip of her drink then puts it on the table beside the bed. As soon as it’s safely on the table and out of her hand, Bellamy rolls her over and presses himself on top of her. The action causes a hum to sound deep within her throat, and she wraps her arms around him.

“I love you, Clarke,” he whispers, and Clarke’s heart leaps.

“I love you, too, Bellamy.” He kisses her, soft and sweet, and it turns her on even more than earlier. His hand finds her exposed leg again as they kiss, and it moves slowly towards her ass before he grabs her and hooks her leg over his hip.

She tilts her hips up to rub against him, and Bellamy hums against her lips. The sound and the feeling sends a wave of pleasure through her body and she arches against him. Over two thousand years of being together, and it’s always been like this. Bellamy trails kiss down her neck and towards her chest, kissing the valley between her breasts before moving further down. His hands gather the material of her dress up as he goes, and whenever he sees she’s not wearing underwear, he makes a sound that’s nearly animalistic. She hardly ever wears underwear around him, and most of the time barely any clothes, and yet he always seems surprised when he sees it.

He kisses the bottom of her stomach, and makes his way to her thighs, slowly working towards her center. He always takes his time, even when they don’t have much of it, and it drives her crazy. It’s something she’s only ever had with him. And the thing she wants _only_ with him. Finn had never been one to want to go down on her, and it was only after a little persuasion that he would even consider it, but Bellamy has always been content to just stay down there for however long she’ll let him.

When he finally kisses her clit, her hips arch, and he growls against her as he grabs a hold of her waist. The first time he did this, Clarke had been shocked. She stared at him as he took his time just kissing her legs, and when he looked at her she actually asked him what he was doing. Needless to say, Bellamy made sure that she knew he loved doing it. And he definitely knew what he was doing. 

He licks a long stripe between her folds, and Clarke’s eyes flutter shut. His mouth always feels amazing when it’s on her, and by now he knows every possible way to make her come, and then come again. After a few long strokes, he sucks on her clit as he adds two fingers, and Clarke clenches around him. They’ve barely started, and she can already feel herself building again but she doesn’t know if it’s just because of _him_ , which it definitely usually is, or if Emori’s flowers are coming into play, too. But she can’t say that she minds.

Her hands grip the sheet tightly, and she opens her eyes at the feeling of Bellamy’s finger running alongside one of them. When she looks, he lifts up her hand with his, and she threads their fingers together. One thing she’s sure she’ll never get enough of is the way Bellamy can never seem to get close enough to her, and it always makes her fall apart. 

He adds a third finger as he pumps them in and out, and Clarke is torn between wanting to come like her body is telling her to and trying to draw this out for as long as she can. He licks and sucks at her like it’s his only purpose in life, and when he crooks his fingers, she moans. He picks up his pace and his slow licks become more forceful and he begins to fuck her with his fingers. She’s pretty sure she can smell the flowers that are still in the bathroom, and the smell of them mixed with the way Bellamy is touching her is too much. 

He sucks at her clit as he crooks his fingers in her again and she spasms around him. He continues to lose himself in her as he works her through her orgasm, and by the end of it, her legs are shaking around his head and she’s pretty sure she could come for a second time if she doesn’t stop him, but she has another way she wants to do things. 

She pulls at his hand that’s still in hers and he goes to kiss her folds and her thighs before moving back up her body. As soon as he’s close enough, Clarke pulls him down for a kiss. It’s dirty like she knew it would be, and when she can taste herself on his tongue, she moans. Finn never wanted to kiss her after he went down on her, but she loves it. She licks into his mouth and Bellamy settles between her thighs. She’s sensitive, but she loves grinding against the bulge in his jeans. She reaches down and undoes the button on his pants, and then the zipper, and when they’re open she hooks her fingers into the waistband of his underwear and his jeans and pushes them down.

Once he kicks them off, Clarke holds onto him and rolls them over to where she’s straddling him. There’s a look in his eye, a question, but Clarke only smiles at him as she takes him in her hand. She thinks about the first time she took him, and how she had been legitimately worried about not being able to handle it, but Bellamy had kissed her through it and praised her. It was certainly a night to remember.

She pumps him a few times, wondering if she should take him in her mouth first, but the thought of having him in her is too much for her to not have him right now. She bites at her bottom lip and looks at him, and he runs his hands along her legs.

“You sure?” His eyes search her face, and she nods.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She sits up on her knees, and Bellamy squeezes her legs, the questioning look still on his face. “I want to.”

“Okay.” 

Clarke moves herself over him, and slowly sinks down, watching his face as she goes. After that first night, he had realized that she was used to things being a certain way, and even though it took her awhile to tell him everything, he always made sure that she knew she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to do. Or didn’t like doing. She loved Bellamy being on top, and the way he held her when he was, but there was something amazing about seeing him under her that made her heart melt.

When she’s all the way on him, she leans forward and kisses him, causing him to thread his fingers into her hair and hold her there. She clenches around him, unable to help herself when he kisses her like this, but then she pushes her way back up, and he holds out his hands for her to take. She moves slowly at first, watching all of the expressions he makes as she moves, and when she finds a rhythm she picks up the pace.

The sounds Bellamy makes sends a wave of pleasure straight to her cunt, and when she moves his hands to her ass, he grips her hard as he starts moving her himself. There’s something exciting about seeing Bellamy lose control as he fucks her, and when his eyes find hers, it feels like her body has been lit on fire. He moves one hand to grab her wrist and pull her towards him, and when her arms are resting on his chest, Bellamy picks up his hips and starts slamming them into her. 

Clarke buries her face in his neck, trying to kiss him but only succeeding at mouthing at him. Gone are the days of her doing all of the work, because Bellamy will never let her do it for very long. The change of position has him hitting deep inside her, and broken sounds begin to fall off her lips as he fills her over and over again. The sensation has her losing control on her grip on reality, and the sounds she’s making must be doing something for him because his breathing becomes just as erratic as hers.

“Bellamy,” she pants against his skin. “Bellamy, I’m so close.”

Bellamy growls as he picks up his pace, and the vibration from the sound in his throat is what pushes her over the edge for the third time that night. She muffles her cries in his neck, and Bellamy slams her hips into his as he comes inside her. She’s experienced a lot of things in her life, but Bellamy when he comes is her favorite. The two of them lay there wrapped in one another as they try to get their breathing under control, and when Clarke lifts off him, Bellamy immediately rolls them over, pulling her to his chest.

One thing she didn’t expect in the beginning, was for the God of War to be a cuddler after sex. Clarke sighs happily as she wraps herself around him, and Bellamy peppers the top of her head with kisses. There’s sweat clinging to both of their bodies, and the temperature in the room seems to have risen considerably, but neither of them care. She kisses every part of him that she can reach, and then she ends at his lips.

When they pull apart, Bellamy smiles down at her before he kisses her nose and she laughs. “Hi.”

“Hey,” he holds the side of her face and runs his thumb over her cheek.

“Happy anniversary,” she whispers.

“Happy anniversary.” He kisses her one more time. 

“Oh, I have wine.” Bellamy laughs as he reaches over and grabs it for her, and she grins. “Thank you.”

Bellamy looks at her, then reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re everything to me. You know that, don’t you?”

“And here I thought Harmonia was the light of your life,” Clarke teases. Madi is the light of both their lives. 

“But you are the only love.” Clarke can feel her cheeks turn pink and she ducks her head. Bellamy could give Monty a run for his money when it comes to poetry. “I have something for you.”

“Another present?”

“Of sorts.” 

Bellamy rolls out of bed and walks towards the dresser, giving Clarke a nice view of his ass as he does so. Everything about him just looks amazing. He opens the drawer and pulls something out, then walks back to her with his hand hidden. Before she can ask what it is, he pulls out a small black box and kneels beside the bed. When he opens it, there's a beautiful diamond ring sitting inside of it, and Clarke's breath catches.

"A ring?" 

"Did you really believe I didn't notice you looking at them?" Bellamy asks, and Clarke looks from the ring to him. "I know you've said it doesn't mean anything, but when I saw this I thought of you. You deserve everything your heart desires, and I want to give that to you."

"So does that mean you'll be mine forever?" She smiles at him.

"If you'll keep me." He smiles softly at her as he takes the ring out of the box and picks up her hand. He slips the ring on her finger, and her eyes widen as she looks down at it. It's a lot different than the last one she had, and she can't help but feel like it fits her. She looks back at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"I love you, Ares."

"I love you, too, Aphrodite."

They smile at each other, and Clarke stands on her knees to give him a kiss. They have forever together, and if the following years are going to be anything like the ones they've already experienced together, then she knows there will never be a dull moment. When they pull apart, she's pretty sure her her cheeks might begin to hurt from smiling so wide.

"We should have a human wedding."

Bellamy's eyebrows raise. "A human wedding?"

"Yeah," she bites at her bottom lip. "It could be fun."

"Why not?" Bellamy leans in and gives her another kiss. "Whatever you want."

"Whatever we want," she corrects him, and his smile widens.

"Whatever we want."

Moments later, Bellamy is on top of her, pinning her arms over her head as he sucks even more bruises onto her skin. She loves being with him like this. She is nobody's property, no one possesses her, but she doesn't mind letting Ares have control when it comes to him worshiping her. Unlike the other times, this is slow, and sweet, the way his body presses against her makes it all that much better.

That night, they share the bottle of wine that Dionysus sent them and talk while the T.V. plays some movie they don't pay attention to. Long gone are the days of the two of them sending letters to each other in the night, and they get to spend their time wrapped up in each other's arms. In the beginning, Clarke learned a lot about him when they fell asleep together. He still saw some of the wars he fought in when he slept, and when he would wake up to her running her hands over his arms and through his hair to calm him down. She held him as he told her about the yelling he still heard ringing in his ears, and feels the dirt and blood caking his body. It was in the middle of the night that she learned that her god of war was affected by the things he experiences, which was something most of the others didn't want to believe.

Even though the people who once worshiped them are long gone, Clarke can still hear people whispering for the Goddess of Love for help. If there was hope for her to get to be with the love of her life, then the humans, whose lives are so much shorter than her own, deserve to have that, too. Of course, the stories that people know about her are Finn's versions, twisting her to seem like a callous woman who was too vain for her own good, but she doesn't care. She and Bellamy know the truth, and that's what matters. 

The true story of how Love and War fell madly in love with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say thank you to everyone who's shown love to this fic so far and thank you to everyone who's going to read it <3 Your comments and kudos and bookmarks mean so much to me! This is my first mythology AU fic and I had so much fun writing it, so I can only hope that you enjoyed reading it!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on...
> 
> Tumblr: xxawalkinwonderlandxx  
> Twitter: awalknwonderlnd


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